Serena Williams Expertly Claps Back at John McEnroe: 'Good Day Sir'

If there's one thing we can always be sure of in this world, it's that Serena Williams is one of the greatest tennis players of all time, if not the greatest of all time — regardless of gender. She's won more Grand Slam tournaments than any male or female player in history and has spent more weeks at the top of the professional women's tennis rankings than any man in the men's game, not to mention she won the 2017 Australian Open while several weeks pregnant.

One man, however, still doesn't seem to grasp that Williams is one of the GOATs. In an interview with NPR on Sunday, former tennis pro John McEnroe attempted to downplay Williams' success. After calling her the "best female player ever, no question," McEnroe was asked why he felt it necessary to qualify Williams' accomplishments in terms of her gender. "If she played the men's circuit she'd be like 700 in the world," he replied. Um...no.

"That doesn't mean I don't think Serena is an incredible player," he continued. "On a given day, Serena could beat some [male] players. I believe because she's so incredibly strong, mentally, that she could overcome some situations where players would choke 'cause she's been in it so many times, so many situations at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, etc. But if she had to just play the circuit — the men's circuit — that would be an entirely different story." McEnroe, 58, who retired in the early 1990s and won seven Grand Slam tournaments throughout his career compared to Williams' 23, went on to imply that he could still beat Williams, 35, in a match. If we're being honest, this just seems like an extremely unwise claim to make considering he would, in our opinion, get his ass kicked.

On Monday, Williams fired back at McEnroe calmly and deftly. "Dear John, I adore and respect you but please please keep me out of your statements that are not factually based," she tweeted. "I've never played anyone ranked 'there' nor do I have time. Respect me and my privacy as I'm trying to have a baby. Good day sir." Take note: that is how you clap back at misogynist comments.